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      10-28-2019, 12:30 AM   #9
Germanauto
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Drives: Alfa Romeo Giulia, Rosso
Join Date: Jul 2016
Location: LA

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I've been in SoCal for a few months now. It is so large and populated it really feels like its own state. LA has so many different flavors to it, it's hard to put it all in one. OC/SD are more homogenous in regards to their vibe/demographics. LA is obscenely expensive if you want a decent sized home (3000+ sq ft). We are talking $2.5-3 mil+ in the more desirable areas near the coast, and $3-4 mil+ once you get to Pacific Palisades, Brentwood, Bel-Air, etc. The OC coastal cities (e.g. Newport, Laguna) and La Jolla are similar. Luckily, in OC you can move 20-30 mins inland from the coast and homes get more affordable. By SoCal standards, San Diego area is the most reasonable. Throw in obscene taxes and California's expensive reputation holds up.

As far as car scene goes. SoCal has the most robust scene in the country. But everything is so damn far apart, and you spend an obscene amount of time in traffic here. There's really nothing like it anywhere else. Once you get away from the hustle and bustle and into the hills you have the best driving roads in the country.

I will say that one of the major things I dislike here is the lack of a true downtown. You're from Toronto, so you're used to a city that is dense, walkable, and has a shopping/nightlife district, waterfront, etc. SoCal lacks this concept. In LA if you want to shop or go to good restaurants, you have to drive from one place to another and sit in the parking lots that are the 10 and 405. Don't expect a downtown anywhere near Toronto, Vancouver, SF, Philadelphia, etc.

On a side note, not sure why people are getting so into red vs. blue. Everything is purple with a skew one way or the other. Both SoCal and Miami are major metros with all types of people. OC/SD has a reputation for being more conservative but there's nothing closed-minded about it from my observations. LA is very white and Mexican with some asians thrown in, totally depends on where you are. OC is almost purely white in the wealthier areas and SD is also very white.
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Last edited by Germanauto; 10-28-2019 at 12:42 AM..
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